


can i be close to you?

by captainlancelot



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff, Wrong Number AU, apparently i am incapable of writing angst, so here have some fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainlancelot/pseuds/captainlancelot
Summary: "Usually, Ava would just ignore the number, maybe even block them if she felt like it. But tonight, she wanted to take her mind off of the events of the day, and this seemed like a good opportunity for a distraction."orAva gets a text from an unknown number, Sara is said unknown number. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Mentioned), Laurel Lance & Ava Sharpe, Laurel Lance/Tommy Merlyn (mentioned), Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 80
Kudos: 196





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys :) i've got a bunch of ideas lined up for fics, it's just a matter of me actually writing them, so we'll see how that goes. i'm also still new to writing and this is the first time i've had text format in a fic, so feedback would be helpful :)
> 
> hope you like it!

Ava was tired, to say the least. She had been working hard for weeks on end, even sleeping at her office if she had to, all to win this case. A case that she eventually lost, all because the defendant was good-looking, and the judge and jury took pity on him. Stupid corrupt American justice system. Usually, Ava would throw herself back into her work when she lost a case as big as this, but staying at work was tough, what with her assistant (and half-friend), Gary constantly pestering her for advice about whatever dickhead who hadn’t called him back after he had gotten into bed with them. (Not that Ava was slut-shaming him. She just really did _not_ need to hear about it).

So when her boss finally told her, in no uncertain terms, to just _go home,_ she took the opportunity with open arms. So maybe she got Big Belly Burger on the way home, something she never eats except when she wants to cry (her last breakup saw her apartment filled with lots of empty paper fast-food bags). And maybe as soon as she got home, she went straight to her alcohol cabinet to open the crappiest wine she had so she could drown her sorrows in it. And maybe her hand slipped, and she accidentally turned the TV onto a reality show, one that she hates, but records anyway for days like these.

Just as Ava had settled into her bed with her Big Belly Burger in one hand and her red wine in the other, a notification came up on her phone for a text from an unknown number. Usually, Ava would just ignore the number, maybe even block them if she felt like it. But tonight, she wanted to take her mind off of the events of the day, and this seemed like a good opportunity for a distraction. After about a minutes deliberation, Ava threw caution to the wind and picked up her phone.

Unknown Number

21:42

zari i need ur advice

basically i met this rly cute girl and

im gna bring her back to my place but

you know what happened with Nyssa

and im not looking for anything

more but i dont wanna hurt this girls

feelings and shit

z, come on, this is important

Sorry, I think you have the wrong

number.

oh shit sorry

do u have any advice tho it’s kinda

urgent and i cant find my friend

Um…I don’t know. Maybe just try

telling this girl about how you feel?

are you asking me or telling me?

I don’t really know.

Look, I’m just really tired and

I’m not really in the mood to

give some random straight guy

advice, okay?

good thing im a bi woman, not a straight guy

im sara by the way

and you are…?

That’s none of your business.

21:49

ok i told her my intentions and im going home with her

thanks for the advice ;)

You’re welcome.

Ava smiled lightly, turned her phone off and put it on her nightstand. She wouldn’t admit it or let it show, but Ava had already become interested in Sara as soon as she got her message. She switched off the TV, put her wine away and got ready for bed. That night, Ava turned onto her side and let sleep take her, dreaming of new, enticing women.

————————————

Ava was brought out of her sleep by her alarm beeping loudly. She groaned as she turned it off and chugged the water and took the Advil on her nightstand when she felt her hangover hit her. It wasn’t the worst, but it was enough to put her in a bad mood.

She opted to skip her usual morning run, because of the dull pounding in her head, so she decided to take a long shower. She left her apartment earlier than she normally would, so she had time to go to her favourite coffee shop, _The Waverider._ She got in her car and started driving along the roads she had driven over almost every day for the past four years.

She hadn’t forgotten about the girl from last night, not at all. Quite the opposite actually. She couldn’t stop thinking about her. _Sara._ She thought about what she could look like, how she spoke and how she walked. How she smiled. _No, Ava. Not again._ This wouldn’t be the first time Ava let her imagination run wild about a girl, only to be hurt or sorely disappointed.

It was probably the first and last time she would’ve been texted by Sara. Ava knew that. She would just text her friend instead, Zari, if Ava remembers correctly. But what if she texted again? What if she’s thinking all the same thoughts about Ava? What if she’s thinking about how Ava looks, and talks, and walks?

Ava shook the ‘What if?’s away, having realised she had reached the door of the café, running mainly on muscle memory. She really needed coffee if she was going to forget this girl.

‘I’ll just have a black coffee, please,’ She said to the woman behind the counter.

She was a brunette, a little shorter than Ava, with green eyes and a cute smile. Exactly the type of woman Ava would usually date, or at the very least, flirt with.

But she just paid for her drink and waited at the counter, the emerald eyes not nearly enough to steal her thoughts away from the mystery woman. Or Sara, rather.

Ava knew she could just ask any of her cop friends to trace Sara’s number and find her. But it had only been a few hours since she first got the text, and she didn’t want to scare the other woman away and deprive herself of the company that she quietly ached for, lying alone in her large empty bed every night she found herself unable to sleep.

————————————

Ava had sat through all her meetings and had managed to finish all of her work before her lunch break was over. She had her phone closer to her than she would care to admit and had been checking her messages more than she ever had. She was currently staring at her texts with Sara, trying to decide whether or not she should just save her number. It wasn’t exactly like Sara would still want to text her. But she could just save it, just in case. Before she could stress about it anymore, she opened the contact details and typed in Sara’s name, clicking _done_ just as her phone pinged.

Sara

13:27

heyyy

it’s me

sara

Hi

wow, no full stop, huh

are u getting careless?

Shut up.

Why did you text me, anyway?

im bored. thought i could come and bug u

u seem like you’d get annoyed easily

You’re not wrong

was that humour?

u were easier to break than i would’ve thought

I do have a sense of humour, you know

hmm, im not so sure about that

I guess you’re gonna have to find out

yourself then

i guess so

im gonna need to know your name

first though

It’s Ava

that’s cute

shit i gotta go, but ill talk to u soon, ava :)

Bye, Sara

‘Miss Sharpe, are you okay?’ She heard a voice say at her door. It was her assistant, Gary, who could be a little annoying, but Ava knew that he was useful in many situations. He was also one of Ava’s close friends, not that she would tell anybody. Having your assistant as one of your closest friends didn’t exactly scream ‘sociable person’ in Ava’s book, so much as it did ‘workaholic loner’.

‘Yes, Gary, I’m fine.’

‘Okay, it’s just, you’ve been staring at your phone for the past couple minutes and I’ve knocked on your door about five times by now, which is strange because you usually only-‘

‘Gary!’ Ava snapped.

‘Oh, sorry, was I rambling again?’ Ava just nodded and then raised her eyebrows at him in an attempt to prompt him to say what he had actually entered her office for. ‘Right, Miss Lance wanted me to tell you to call her.’ Ava smiled slightly at the mention of her friend’s name.

Laurel Lance was an Assistant to the District Attorney, and her and Ava were in the same grade back in junior high. Not to mention, she had helped Ava get her current job when she was in a worse than bad place after her ex left her, leaving Ava with a broken heart and trust issues. Not to mention Ava had to quit her job because her boss was making her life hell, one of the many downsides of your girlfriend being related to your boss. But Laurel ran in to her at a bar (literally, Ava was drunk), recognised her immediately, and helped her get her life back on track.

‘Okay Gary, thank you.’ She said as Gary was already halfway out the door to her office.

Ava picked up her work phone as soon as the door closed and dialled the number to her friend’s office.

‘Ava!’ She heard a cheerful voice say at the other end of the line

‘Laurel! How are you?’

‘I’m good. I’ve missed you like crazy.’

‘Yeah, I miss you too. But you’re an ADA! I’m so fucking proud of you.’

‘Ava Sharpe, swearing at work. These really are strange times.’ Ava giggled. ‘And giggling too.’ Laurel added.

‘Shut up, Lance. I don’t giggle.’

‘Yeah sure,’ Laurel said, not sounding convinced at all.

‘Anyway, not that I don’t love talking to you, but why’d you want me to call you?’

‘Okay, so you know my sister?’

‘Not really.’

‘Well, I’m hoping to change that.’

‘Laurel, what are you planning?’ The lawyer said suspiciously.

‘I just think that it’d be good for her to be in a relationship again. She hasn’t been with anyone long term for three years now. And neither have you. You know, since… _her._ ’ Ava almost winced at the mere thought of her ex-girlfriend. ‘So… What do you say? Wanna go on a date with my sister?’

Ava would’ve said no, if what Laurel was saying wasn’t so true. It _had_ been that long, and it wasn’t like she had anyone else in her life. _Except Sara,_ a voice in her head told her. But Ava knew it wasn’t logical to say no to date because she had a crush on a woman who she barely knew.

‘Fuck it, I’m in.’

‘Great! I’ll have to ask her first of course.’

‘Sure.’

‘Alright well I have to go now, but we need to catch up. How’s lunch on Wednesday?’

‘Sounds good! Text me the details.’

‘Bye, Aves.’

‘Bye, Laur.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm hoping to have the next chapter up soon :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Laurel interaction, useless lesbian Ava, feelings sharing and video calls :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i sorta forgot this existed and i've been busy but it annoys me when i have unfinished work, so you get this!

’No way. Not happening.’

‘Come on. What’s the worst that could go wrong?’ Laurel asked her sister, who was pacing back and forth on the wooden floors of her open plan apartment. ‘Would you stop that? It’s annoying.’

‘You know what’s annoying?’ Sara asked

‘I have a feeling you’re gonna tell me anyway,’ Laurel interjected

‘What’s annoying is you signing me up for dates I didn’t even know I had. I told you, I’m fine.’ Sara said, sitting down ungracefully in an armchair.

‘Sara, it’s been two years since Nyssa. You have to move on eventually.’

‘I have moved on.’ Sara snapped. ‘I’ve moved on with Alex and… well, you know what I mean.’

‘It doesn’t count if you were too drunk to remember their names.’

‘I wasn’t drunk!’ Sara defended. 

’Then it’s because they didn’t even mean enough to you for you to learn their names.’

‘I’m not going on that date.’

‘Fine.’ Laurel sighed, conceding defeat. ‘Just get back out there. Properly. I want you to be happy again, like actually happy.’

‘I’ll have you know I’m actually talking to a girl right now.’ Laurel raises her eyebrows in question and surprise. ‘Well, not exactly talking. More like texting.’

‘Oh my god, tell me all about her.’ Laurel said just as her phone pinged with a reminder. ‘Actually, no that’s gonna have to wait. I’ve got a lunch.’

‘Alright, bye.’

‘Love you, see you on Saturday, right?’

Sara nodded as she kissed her sister on the cheek and closed the door behind her, turning and leaning against it as she sighed and sunk to the floor. It wasn’t that Laurel was annoying, but Sara was tired of people asking her when she’d get together with someone else. While Sara had slept with other people since Nyssa, she knew it wasn’t healthy to keep going on like this, moving from person to person without ever settling down. There was Ava, but Sara doubted she’d ever go out with her, even if she wasn’t straight. Sara wasn’t exactly _girlfriend material_.

————————————

Ava walked into the restaurant, feeling slightly tense. She was wearing her usual work attire, a white button up under a black pantsuit, but she had taken her hair out of its typical bun for her meal with her friend. Even though she appeared less ‘uptight’ than she would at work, Ava didn’t really like social situations, and she knew it sounded ridiculous, but she was nervous for this, even though she’d done this hundreds of times before.

‘Ava!’ She heard a voice call from the corner of the room. Ava smiled internally at seeing where her friend had chosen to sit. Luckily, Laurel was intuitive enough to know that Ava preferred not to be in the centre of any room unless it was a courtroom. In the courtroom, Ava had control, and everything was perfectly planned with the added excitement and unpredictability of the ruling. Despite not knowing how a judge or a jury would react, Ava was able to plan for every possible outcome, and she had a retort to every sentence that came out of the other lawyer’s mouth.

But with people, it was different. The confidence she carried in the court turned into something a little less inspiring and a little more intimidating. People had stopped trying to get to know her after a while. Until Laurel, that was. 

Having been reminded of her friend, Ava walked over to where the woman was sitting, smiling slightly awkwardly. Laurel quickly stood up to hug Ava tightly for a while, her arms squeezing together.

‘Hi’ Ava laughed through Laurel’s hair, who still had her in a tight hug.

Laurel pulled back, sitting down and gesturing for Ava to do the same. When they had both settled down, Laurel spoke up. ‘Sorry about that, I just feel like it’s been _forever_ since I last saw you.’

‘Well, that’s a bit of an overstatement’

’Shut up, you know what I meant’

‘Yeah, you’re right. So how’s work? And Tommy?’

The conversation went on like that for a while, both women catching up as if they’d never been apart, their humour immediately being infused into their words. By the time they were both halfway through their meals, Ava realised that she hadn’t yet asked about the date Laurel had planned. 

‘So, your sister, huh?’

‘Uh, about that, I don’t think she’ll be able to make it. She’s been really busy with work and stuff, you know how it can be.’ Laurel lied.

‘Yeah, sure. That’s totally fine.’ Ava reassured her. 

‘It’s a shame though, you two would have been really good for each other, I think. Not to mention you’re both strong, gorgeous women.’ Laurel said, making Ava blush.

She wasn’t entirely convinced by Laurel’s argument, and she could usually see right through her friend when she was lying. But if she was honest, it was sort of a relief that Laurel’s sister didn’t want to go out with her. Ava didn’t even know the woman’s name. Not that it mattered anyway. She had been texting Sara constantly for a week. She learnt that she lived in Star City too and she was 28, just three years younger than Ava was. Her mother left her when she was young, causing her father’s alcoholism and putting her on a bad path (Ava avoided most family talk after that), but she decided to turn that around after being in a car accident and began training to become a cop. She could dance and she was also trained in 4 different types of martial arts, leading to a conversation about sparring. Apparently, the women had more in common than Ava had thought.

They started calling each other, too. It had been an accident on Ava’s part at first, clicking on Sara’s name while clearing out her contacts. But it was welcomed, and Sara kept the conversation going as if it didn’t start with Ava shouting ‘FUCK!’ and dropping her phone. That was one of the things Ava liked about Sara. She could just carry a whole conversation, even if it was based on nothing. 

So Ava thought about her more and more, and her small unrequited crush turned into something a lot less small, and hopefully, less unrequited. She still told herself it was ridiculous, to want to go out with someone when you hadn’t even seen their face. It would have been easy to see Sara, seeing as they both lived in the same city, and if Sara wanted to, she would’ve called Ava to meet up with her. But she hadn’t, which must’ve meant that she didn’t like Ava. And she did say, on the day that she mistook Ava for her friend, that she wasn’t looking for anything, after this ‘Nyssa’, whoever she was. All Ava knew is that if she met Nyssa, she’d have a few things to say. She ignored the voice in her head telling her that it wouldn’t even be her place to say anything. 

————————————

It was 7pm on a Saturday, a time which Ava knew better as ‘Call the girl you’ve been falling for even though you’ve never seen her face and she probably doesn’t like you back and even if she did, it wouldn’t work because you’re practically undateable’ o’clock’. She was staring at her phone, waiting for Sara to call (she didn’t want to call Sara early and give out the vibe that she had feelings for Sara, even though she definitely _did_ have feelings for Sara, if the loud thumping her heart made every time she heard the woman’s voice was any indication). 

Ava was surprised when her phone rang, because instead of a phone call, Sara was FaceTiming her. Which meant Sara was going to see her face. Which meant Sara was going to see no makeup Ava with her hair in a messy bun, dressed in a pink sports bra and Ava’s comfiest grey sweatpants. She quickly pulled a loose white top on and answered the call before she had time to overthink anything else.

‘Aves, hey,’ the familiar voice said, dragging the words out.

The first thing Ava thought when she saw Sara was that she was beautiful. She was absolutely stunning, in fact. She had blonde hair, tied up in a loose ponytail with little wispy strands framing both sides of her face, and her blue eyes were icy and complex, revealing so much and so little about the person who had them. She had freckles spanning her entire face, from the small scar on the top of her forehead down to her adorable chin dimple and down her neck, leading all the way to the neckline of her top. Ava couldn’t help but wonder just how much of her body Sara’s freckles covered, and how long it would take to explore her body to find and kiss every single one.

She realised she hadn’t said anything, and she was just staring at Sara. After cursing herself for being such a useless lesbian, she swallowed, hoping to dispel the blush that she could feel making her cheeks burn up, and said ‘Hi. So, FaceTime, huh?’

‘Yeah, well, I thought it’d be nice to put a face to the name. And the voice. I guess I just didn’t realise how good it would be.’

‘Yeah,’ Was all Ava managed to say. Suffice to say, Ava encountered a certain blonde woman in her very graphic dream that night. And the night after. And maybe the rest of the week.

* * *

Ava had gotten home early that night. It was the night that Sara had allocated as ‘Avalance’s movie night’. Ava found the name ridiculous, but it was adorably funny when Sara came up with it, a proud smile on her face. Instead of saying she found her adorable, Ava just called her a nerd and laughed at her, and it wasn’t long before Sara was laughing along with her. A laugh that Ava would easily listen to daily. A laugh that did a lot more to Ava than she’d care to admit. Before she could get carried away, her thoughts were interrupted by a ringing from her phone. She knew that it was Sara from the tone and picked it up immediately.

‘Hey, Sara.’ Ava smiled at seeing her face with a small smile plastered on it. She looked almost bashful, which Ava thought was out of character for the other woman.

‘Hey Aves,’ Sara said. Ava thought she could listen to that voice on repeat every day for eternity. _Ok Ava, slow down. She probably doesn’t even like you._ ’That was quick. How’d you know it was me?’

’It says your name when you call.’

‘Ava, my caller ID hasn’t been on since 2012. I know because it pisses all my friends off every time I call them.’

‘Right.’ _Fuck._

‘What, do you have like a different ringtone for me?’ Sara teased.

‘Uhhh’

‘Wait, Ava, do you have a different ringtone for me?’

‘Yes?’ It wouldn’t seem like anything strange, but anyone that knew Ava would know two things. She hates change, and she doesn’t trust people. Most of her past relationships have ended because she couldn’t trust her girlfriend, or she was too invested in work. After her nightmare break up, trust became something that disappeared from almost all of her relationships, barring a few close friends. 

But she trusted Sara. With her life. And Ava knew that. And now, it seemed like Sara did too.

‘Are you asking me or telling me?’

‘I don’t know.’ She sighed, slightly hunching and crumpling into herself to make herself small, like she did when she was vulnerable.

‘Ava, it’s okay. Talk to me.’ Just with a few words, Sara had opened the dam that stopped Ava from completely spilling all of her feelings.

‘Look, I’m sorry if that’s coming on too strong and if I just ruined our friendship but you’ve easily become like my favourite person even though we’ve only been talking for a week and now I just heard what I just said and I’m sorry for that too and I understand if you never really want to speak to me again.’

‘You done?’

‘I think so.’

‘Okay, first, breathe,’ Sara said softer than Ava thought she had the right to be. Once Sara saw Ava take a deep breath, she continued. ‘Now, you haven’t ruined anything. Aves, you’re really important to me too. And I know you don’t trust easily, and it means a lot that you can trust me. Let’s watch the movie, yeah? You pick.’

‘Yeah, okay. Thanks. Sorry again.’ Ava sighed out of relief before smiling smugly. ‘You’re gonna regret letting me choose. I pick…’ She paused for effect ‘…Star Wars!’

‘Why am I not surprised?’ Sara groaned as she teased.

Ava cuddled into her empty couch with her phone and a pillow that she not so subtly wished was Sara, watching Sara doing the same thing with a blanket on her end. 

Just as she was starting to drift off, which she found herself doing more often with Sara on the phone, she heard a voice.

‘Aves?’ Sara whispered, to which Ava made a small sound that Sara found unfairly adorable. ‘You’re my favourite person too.’

Ava just smiled tiredly in reply while her heart fluttered out of her chest, hearing Sara’s soft ‘Goodnight, Ava’ before she closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> drop a comment if you want (despite the technological inaccuracies when it comes to caller id)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava gets a call from Laurel (and a picture from Sara) and Sara and Laurel get ready for the celebration. Ava talks to Gary about Sara and Sara talks to Laurel and thinks about Ava. 
> 
> or 
> 
> A lot of mutual pining. Zero interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter's quite short, so sorry for that. i've had quite a lot going on so i haven't been able to post and my writing isn't great, but tell me what you think anyway. 
> 
> there isn't any actual Avalance interaction in this cahpter, but it builds their relationships with other people.

Ava found herself in her office, once again after a long night at work. She wasn’t actually sure exactly what time it was, but was fairly certain that it was around 10. Gary had left about an hour ago, with a slightly nervous goodbye, even though he and Ava had been friends for almost two years now.

‘Laurel, hey.’

‘Hey Aves!’

‘How are you?’

‘I’m good! I’m just exhausted from work,’ Laurel said with a soft yawn.

‘Yeah, I know the feeling.’

‘Well, working at quarter to 11 on a Thursday will do that to you.’

‘I guess so. How’d you know I was working?’

‘Call it intuition.’

‘Anyway, I know you’d usually have more of a reason to call me just to tell me off about working, so what’s going on?

‘Not much, just, well, you know how I won that case against that money launderer?’

‘Yes, and I’m so proud of you.. What about it?’ Ava replied, not quite knowing why her usually assertive friend seemed so nervous.

‘Well, Tommy wants to have a sort of get together, a celebration, for it, and I was wondering if you would come.’

‘Of course I’ll be there!,’ Ava said, noticing the slight sigh of relief from the other end of the phone. ‘Are you okay?’ She asked, hoping her tone was as sincere as she meant it to be.

‘It’s nothing, really.’ Ava just waited, knowing that the other woman well enough that she would continue if she was given enough time. ‘It’s at a bar.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You’re worried you won’t be able to stay sober?’

‘Exactly. And Tommy knows about the fact that I don’t drink, but he doesn’t know the reason why, or the extent of my alcoholism.’

‘Look, I know you can do this. You’re literally the strongest person I know, and you’ve gone over a year without drinking, and that’s not something to be taken lightly.’

‘I know, it’s just, I’m an addict, Aves. I’m so scared that I’ll start drinking again and then I’ll lash out at everyone and Tommy will hate me and-‘

‘Laurel. I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. You can _easily_ do this. But if, for any reason, addiction or otherwise, you feel like you need an out or even just someone to talk to for a while, that’s what I’m there for.’

‘Thank you. So much. It means a lot that you’re there for me.’

‘I’m only doing what you’ve done so many times before.’ Ava smiled despite knowing that Laurel couldn’t see her. ‘Anyway, now that that’s over with, tell me, will there be girls at this ‘celebration’, or whatever you’re calling it?’

‘I wouldn’t invite you to a party without girls, you hopeless lesbian.’

‘I would argue, but you’ll probably just end up winning.’

‘That’s very true. I have to go now, but I’ll see you next Saturday?’

‘I’ll see you there.’

————————————

‘Gary!’ Ava says for about the twelfth time, frustration finally seeping into her voice. She watches as Gary stops doing whatever meaningless task he was doing and scuttles over to her office.

‘Yes, Miss Sharpe?’

‘Are you okay? You’ve been acting more strangely than usual lately.’ Ava says, putting on a soft, caring voice, one that she usually reserves for anywhere that isn’t work. Gary seems slightly taken aback by the question, but he sighs and his shoulders slump.

‘Yes, Miss Sharpe. It’s just, ugh, boy problems, you know?’ While Ava usually kept strict boundaries between her home life and her work life, talking to Sara almost every day and hearing about her life had helped to show the lawyer that sometimes it was okay to let home Ava into work Ava’s territory.

‘Can’t say I do actually. Sit down, Gary.’ Ava says, gesturing to one of the couches in her office and holding back a laugh as Gary grins widely and flops unceremoniously into it with a deep sigh, his grin turning into a frown.

‘That bad, huh?’

‘It’s just Constantine.’ Ava visibly winces at the sound of that name. John Constantine was a _tolerable_ man, if a little (a _lot_ ) strange. Ava just knew that he wasn’t good enough for her friend.

‘What did he do now?’

‘He won’t tell me about his life. Says he’s ‘protecting me’, from what I don’t know. It’s just frustrating. I want to know everything about him but he just won’t tell me.’

‘Look, I don’t know John and I sure as hell don’t know _men_ like you do, but sometimes, people need space. Sometimes they need space and sometimes they need encouragement. Honesty.’

‘But what do I do? What if I scare him off and he runs away?’ Gary interrupts.

‘Just talk to him, full disclosure. No holds barred. Tell him exactly how you feel and if he can’t accept that, or if he’s scared of committing and he runs, let him go.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Ava. That’s good advice.’

’No problem, you’re my friend.’ Ava says, seeing Gary’s signature huge grin form on his face.

‘Sooooo, seeing as we’re letting home Ava out for a bit, you wanna talk about who you’ve been texting so much?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Ava replies, despite the fact that she knows her cheeks are already red.

‘Hm, your blush begs to differ. Who is she?’ Gary says, leaning in with rapt attention as if Ava was telling him the secret of life.

‘Her name’s Sara, she accidentally texted my number and we started talking, is all.’

‘Tell me about her, then.’

‘She’s…’ Ava pauses, discerning how much she wanted Gary to know. Seeing as she was just talking about honesty and full disclosure, she went with the non-hypocritical route of telling her friend everything. ‘She’s something else. She’s sweet and hilarious and she’s passionate about everything, even cartoons. We’re such different people, but so similar at the same time. She says she hates Star Wars, but she’ll watch it with me anyway and comment on all the characters and crack terrible jokes in the best ways and… she’s just… great, amazing, even.’

‘Wow. You must really like her.’

‘I think I do.’

‘I can tell you do. I’ve never heard you speak about anyone this way, not even _you know who_ , at least until a few months in.’

‘Yeah, she’s special. I don’t think she likes me like that though. I mean, she flirts with me and calls me cute, but what if she’d just being friendly?’

‘You’re such a lesbian. Ava, she talks to you almost constantly while you’re at work, and I’m guessing you talk at home too?’ Ava nods bashfully. ‘Then she either really really really likes you as a friend, or she has feelings for you.’

‘I don’t know. It’s just-‘ A noise from Ava’s pocket interrupts her sentence, and she immediately pulls it out to see two messages from Sara.

Sara

11:47

Attachment: 1 image

hey ;) how’s work?

Ava’s breath catches in her throat at seeing the picture. Sara seems to be in a gym of some sort, in front of a mirror. Ava’s not too focused on the background because Sara is standing in front of the mirror looking all too beautiful and Ava just wants to be there and take her and kiss her.

Sara’s abs are on full display, her chest barely concealed by the thin material of a black sports bra. She’s wearing matching tight, gym shorts that highlight her sharp muscles and her soft curves. Her face is covered by a thin sheen of sweat, probably from a workout, and her lips are curled up, slightly smug, slightly bashful, as if she had anything to be bashful about. Both of her hands are wrapped, with one resting on her hip and the other holding her phone up. Ava follows the bulging muscle of her arms up to her shoulders and her neck. Her freckles are more visible than normal, and Ava’s urge to find each one grows.

‘Ava?’ Gary says, lengthening the vowels. ‘What was that?’

‘What? Nothing.’ Ava snaps, a blush rising up her cheeks.

’No, that was definitely something. Was it Sara? Oh my god, you have to show me!’

Sensing that Gary was not going to give up anytime soon, Ava reluctantly holds her phone out to him and he snatches it away excitedly.

‘Wow. I mean, if I wasn’t gay-‘

‘Shut up.’

‘You really think this is just platonic? Honey, this is _not_ platonic.’

‘Okay, seriously, shut up, Gary. What do I do?’

With the (strangely helpful) advice of Gary, Ava constructs the perfect message to send to Sara, but she doesn’t think she’ll be able to keep texting her without randomly confessing her feelings, especially if the woman continues to send her pictures like this (Ava’s not exactly complaining though). This woman was going to be the death of her. A sweet, gay death.

————————————

’Sara! Hurry up!’ Laurel’s voice came from the other side of the bathroom door, accompanied by a few loud knocks.

‘One second, Laur! Calm your shit!’ Sara shouts over the sound of her blowdryer, leaning over to open the door before switching the appliance off and shaking out her hair.

‘It was unlocked anyway, you could’ve just walked in’

‘Yeah, well how would I have known that you weren’t naked or anything?’

‘When have you ever walked into a room with me naked. Actually, you know what, let’s not start that conversation.’

‘Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Well anyway, Tommy gave me this necklace to wear tonight. Which means I’ll probably be wearing that instead of the one dad gave me. So, I was thinking, I might as well give it to you. Indefinitely.’

‘Are you serious? I know how much this means to you’

‘Yeah, I am.’ Laurel says, gathering Sara’s hair in one hand and bringing it in front of one shoulder so she could fasten the necklace behind her neck.

‘You look beautiful. It suits you.’ The older woman says with a gentle smile on her face, looking at Sara through the bathroom mirror.

‘Yeah,’ Sara smiles back. ‘I always look beautiful.’ She says, her smile morphing into a smirk.

‘And… moment ruined. Congratulations, I hope you’re proud of yourself.’

‘You know, I really am.’

‘Well, if we don’t get ready, we are going to be late.’ The attorney says, pulling Sara from her seat in front of the mirror. ‘Which one are you planning on wearing?’ She asks, holding up two dresses on hangers.

’I’m thinking that one’ Sara says, pointing to a long red dress with a plunging neckline and a slit up the thigh.

‘Hmmm, good choice.’ Laurel says after giving the dress a once over. ‘You looking to impress anyone today? What am I saying, there’s literally no chance you’re coming home alone.’

‘Well, we’ll see, I guess.’ Sara says, taking the dress from Laurel and going into the bathroom again to change and do her makeup.

Despite what she told her sister, Sara doubted that she would even want to come home with anybody. She hadn’t even kissed anyone since that night at the bar. The night she texted Ava. She knew they weren’t dating, but simply the thought of being with another person made Sara feel uneasy. Her thoughts were almost constantly filled with the woman, but she wasn’t ready to tell her yet. She didn’t even know if Ava liked her in that way. She could tell she wasn’t straight, but that didn’t mean that she had feelings for Sara. Even if she did, it wasn’t likely that Ava could like her with the intensity that Sara did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! comments and kudos are always appreciated (tell me what you think will happen, or where you want this story to go!)
> 
> i'm not gonna lie, i got a bit bored of writing this, but i hate having unfinished works, so if you enjoy it, tell me and i'll keep going (or i may abandon this fic)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've all been waiting for...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, this isn't the longest chapter but i don't think it's too bad. as usual, i don't have a beta so there are probably a few mistakes in here (english is my first language, i'm just dumb). hope you enjoy it :)

Ava walked into the bar feeling slightly nervous. Her eyes glanced around the whole room out of habit, brushing quickly over the patrons sat at the bar and shooting to the various groups hanging around the standing tables. It was fairly quiet compared to most places Ava had been to, and she figured that Laurel had booked out the whole place.

She usually wasn’t a fan of bars (she hadn’t actually been to one since she met Laurel), especially ones filled with people, but she had to commend her friend on her choice. It was small, but not too cramped, with the perfect balance of modern and antique decor.

The lawyer went to find Laurel first, to make sure that she was feeling okay and not overly tempted to drink. She noticed that the bar would be a good vantage point to see the whole room, so she made a beeline to the side of the bar and sat down, making small talk with whoever approached her, and politely shooting down any oblivious men and women who had the bad luck of hitting on a girl who had already fallen for someone else.

Her eyes were scanning the bar to find Laurel or Tommy, who were both out of sight, and then they landed on _her_. Ava could only see the back of her head, but it wasn’t what she could see that made her excited. It was what she _felt._ Her heart skipping a beat before increasing tenfold, beating irregularly. The blood pumping through her veins, as if they were trying to tell her that this was it. The moment she had waited for. The moment she had imagined for god knows how long.

She’d had this moment before, of course. Thinking a stranger was Sara, only to have them turn around and look at her with eyes that weren’t the piercing blue ones that she desperately wanted, no, needed to stare into her soul.

But she never felt this. All those times, she felt nervous. Scared, even. She’d never felt excited. She’d never felt the strange mix of apprehension and exhilaration that was swirling around in her body right now, the feeling that was making her stomach do backflips.

It was then that Ava realised that she had just been staring at the back of a woman’s head for what felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds. It was then that she decided, if she was to confirm these suspicions, she would first have to walk up to the woman.

She willed her legs to stand, walking over to the woman shakily, the music in the bar drowned out by the erratic thumping of her own heart and the sound of blood rushing in her ears. Ava found herself standing directly behind the stranger, and she swallowed, trying to take control over her body and calm her nerves.

‘Excuse me. Is your name Sara?’

The woman turned, and her identity was no longer a mystery. The piercing blue eyes she had longed to see were now right in front of her, staring into hers with an intensity strong enough to bring her to her knees. Ava didn’t need to see the rest of the woman’s face to know who it was. It was Sara. It was _her_ Sara. Sara was here. Right in front of her.

Ava opened her mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out except for a small sound, leaving her staring at Sara, her jaw hanging down.

‘Ava!?’

It was as if the woman had been waiting for this moment too. Ava watched as her face morphed from disbelief to absolute elation and flashing to something that Ava couldn’t quite recognise for a split second, before moving back to elation quickly. If she was being idealistic, Ava would have hoped that the woman’s thought process was similar to hers.

‘You might wanna close your mouth, or you’ll catch flies.’ The cop smirked.

Ava felt her cheeks get warmer. ‘I can’t believe it’s actually you. I mean, I thought it was you. Well, I felt it. No, I didn’t feel it- that sounds weird. But I felt it. And then I walked up here, and I said hi and you turned around and… and it was you. And now I’m rambling, so I’m gonna shut up.’ Ava took a breath, feeling her cheeks heat up even more as Sara’s smirk grew.

‘Didn’t realise I just had to say one sentence to get you all flustered.’

‘Can we pretend that didn’t happen and start over?’

‘Well, I don’t know Aves, that was some speech.’ The smaller woman said, the nickname slipping out of her mouth casually, as if it was second nature, and as if it didn’t do _things_ to Ava.

The taller woman put her head in her hands in a futile attempt to hide her exponentially growing blush. ‘Shut up,’ She mumbled into her hands. Although she wanted Sara to do the exact opposite of shutting up, she would still try to gain some control over the conversation.

‘Sorry, did you say something? Can’t hear anything over the sound of your embarrassment.’

‘I said shut up.’ Ava said, head still in her hands.

‘What was that? Still can’t hear you. Maybe try turning your embarrassment down?’

‘I said,’ She pulled her head out of her hands, her huge smile betraying her tone. ‘Shut up.’

‘Ah I see. And no thanks.’

Ava huffed out a laugh at the woman’s antics.

‘What are you doing still standing up? Sit down.’ She tilted her head, gesturing to the empty seat next to her.

Ava and Sara found themselves talking for most of the night, completely forgetting to ask the other why they were even at the bar in the first place, instead talking about everything and nothing, the familiarity of the situation not lost on either woman.

Ava was just getting to hear about the first job that Sara had as a bartender at her friend’s club when she heard someone call the shorter blonde’s name.

’Oh my god! Sara?!’ The woman shouted giddily before running up to Sara and enveloping her in a hug.

‘Kara! Hey, it’s been a while.’

‘Yeah, we have so much to catch up on!’ The almost puppy-like woman said before turning to Ava. ‘Hi, I’m Kara Danvers! Nice to meet you.’

‘Uh, hi.’ Ava said, offering her hand for Kara to shake, which the woman took eagerly.

‘You have to come meet Lena!’ Kara said excitedly, while practically dragging Sara back to where she was before, where a seemingly confident raven-haired woman sat waiting for Kara. Ava saw her tells though. The classic leg bouncing, inside of the cheek biting tells. She was anxious.

‘Aves, I’ll just be a second.’ Sara said from where Kara was still dragging her halfway across the room and smiled, making Ava melt immediately. She just nodded and smiled back, thinking that she’d probably end up blurting out to Sara that she loved her if she even opened her mouth.

Ava watched as Sara interacted flawlessly with Lena, clearly making the other woman more comfortable with jokes. She couldn’t help but feel a little jealous when Lena reached out to touch Sara’s arm, but was reassured when she gave Kara a little peck on the lips.

‘Hey!’ Ava jumped and sat up ramrod straight, before relaxing when she saw the source of the voice.

‘God, don’t do that!’ She chastised Laurel, who had a little familiar smirk on her face.

’Not my fault you were too distracted to see me.’

‘I’m not distracted.’ Ava defended, prompting Laurel to give her an incredulous look. ‘I’m _not_!’

‘Sure. Anyway, how are you?’

‘I’m really good actually,’ She said, shooting a glance in Sara’s direction.

Laurel looked at her questioningly, until following her gaze. A look of realisation overcame her features when she saw who Ava was staring at.

‘Looks like you and Sara are getting along.’ Ava looked at Laurel, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

‘Wait, you know Sara?’

‘Well, I didn’t exactly have a choice,’ Laurel said, smirking slightly when she was met with a blank look. ’She’s my sister, Ava’

Ava would’ve voiced her disbelief if she hadn’t been drinking her water at the time. What she was able to do, however, was choke on her drink and cough for far too long to not be embarrassing. A warm hand rubbing circles on her back brought her back to reality.

‘Aves, you okay?’ Sara’s said, her hand still moving on the small of her back, making heat rise on Ava’s cheeks and giving her another thing to be embarrassed about.

Ava just replies by making a small sound of confirmation that mostly gets stuck in her throat.

After recovering from her embarrassing situation, Ava clears her throat and says, ‘So you’re sisters?!’

‘Unfortunately.’ She hears both Lances deadpan at the same time, in the same tone, and then look at each other with narrowed eyes.

‘How did I not see this earlier?’

‘Wow, I haven’t even asked you out yet and you’re already meeting my sister.’

‘What d’you mean, meeting? I’ve been trying to set the two of you up for months.’ Laurel adds.

‘You’re the sister?!’ Ava asks, still not quite following the situation. ‘You’re _the_ sister?’ She repeats, still incredulous.

‘Oh my god, you’re Laurel’s friend?’ Sara asks as her hands come up to her temples. Her eyes are watching Ava’s face closely, making the woman blush involuntarily.

The two women just stare into each other’s eyes before being pulled out of whatever world they were in by Laurel clearing her throat. ‘Right, well, this was fun, but I’m gonna go find Tommy. I’m sure we’ll figure this out some day,’ She says, gesturing between the three of them before walking away.

‘So, that was something, huh?’ Sara breaks the silence, flopping down somewhat gracefully onto a bar stool.

‘That’s one way to put it, I guess.’ Ava says before sitting on the chair next to Sara’s, glancing up at the girl as she did so and catching the way she smiled to herself (adorable, in Ava’s very unbiased opinion). ‘It’s gonna be a while before I take that all in.’

‘Would it be easier if we started again?’

‘Probably.’

‘Hi. I’m Sara Lance.’ She says, holding her hand out.

Ava raises an eyebrow at her but takes Sara’s hand when she raises hers in response. She revels in the warmth it brings as it meets her own. Sara’s hands are soft, softer than Ava would expect, but Ava supposes it’s about time she stopped assuming things about the other woman, and just ‘go with the flow’, as Sara would put it. Unsurprisingly, their hands fit together perfectly (everything about Sara was perfect to Ava).

She looks directly into Sara’s piercing blue eyes and says, ‘Ava Sharpe, it’s nice to meet you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me what you think about it, and i'll take any feedback on what i could improve or what you want to see next!
> 
> (i do realise i described Sara's eyes as 'piercing' about twenty times)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the bar + Sara talks to the Legends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! sorry i've not been around for so long, i've had a lot going on. i should also probably have a writing schedule that isn't just 'write when you're bored or have nothing else to do'. 
> 
> also i was wondering why i wasn't getting as many hits or comments on the last chapter as on my other ones, and i was backdating them for some reason, so they weren't showing up on the day I actually posted them. i don't even remember doing that xD
> 
> i'm portraying Zari as Zari 1.0 because i know her character better, and there's some more of Sara's POV in this chapter.

Ava groaned and rolled over to pick her phone up from where it lay on the other side of the unmade bed. Her brows furrowed when she read the time as _11:47_ and did an unnaturally dramatic double take just to check. Unsurprisingly, the time stayed the same. _11:47_. That couldn’t be right. Ava always set two alarms, one at 6:30 and another at 7:00, in case the first one failed to wake her up. She opened her phone again, promptly clicking on her alarm app, only to find both of them on, as usual. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a normal person to sleep through their alarms, but Ava wasn’t _normal_. She hadn’t slept through her alarms ever since she started setting them when she was 14 (barring the few times she was extremely hungover or upset over _she who must not be named_ (if she was named, Ava would have to think about her, and she _really_ did not want to do that.)) and she wasn’t _that_ hungover.

Ava’s _slightly_ hungover head throbbed, and she blindly put her phone in its rightful place on the nightstand, plugging the charger in (she usually did that before she got into bed, so it was fully charged for the next day) before noticing the water and aspirin sitting there. The water she wasn’t surprised by, but Ava knew she didn’t have aspirin. It was on her grocery list, and her next shopping day was meant to be Tuesday. And, if Ava’s phone was telling the truth, it was a Sunday, so Ava obviously hadn’t had a chance to buy it.

Assuming she had somehow bought the aspirin while still drunk, Ava sat up and knocked back the two tablets before gulping down the entire glass of water. She put the glass down from the same place she picked it up and looked down at her clothes. She wasn’t wearing her matching pyjamas, which was certainly _strange_ , but not unusual for drunk Ava. What was unusual though, was the lack of pyjamas. She was wearing shorts and an oversized t-shirt, both of which weren’t even hers.

It was only then that she looked around the room properly, taking in the large details that her brain, still fuzzy from sleep and unable to recall the previous night, missed. The colour of the walls, first of all, were light grey. Hers were cream. There was a small loveseat in the corner next to what looked like a dog bed. Ava had neither a dog nor a couch. Something was very wrong, and the lawyer had only just started to realise what it was.

She wasn’t lying on her bed, those weren’t her walls, and that bed wasn’t for her (non-existent) dog.

This wasn’t her room.

Which meant that this wasn’t her apartment. Which meant that Ava was in a someone else’s home.

It wasn’t Laurel’s, she’d been in Laurel’s apartment enough times to know what her room looked like. And even drunk Ava wasn’t dumb enough to go home with a stranger. She hoped. Her brain suddenly flashed to the night before. Talking to a woman, kidding around and laughing with her. Playful touches. Doing shots. Dancing.

Ava was pulled out of her reverie by a sound from her phone. She opened it to reveal a text from Laurel, saying, ‘ _Did you get home okay?’_. She quickly shot back an ‘ _I think. I’m slightly hungover right now.’_ She received an ‘ _Okay. Call me when you feel better :)_ ’ and smiled, putting her phone back on the nightstand.

‘Hey, you’re up!’ Ava’s body tensed and her head shot up to the source of the voice. She immediately relaxed upon seeing the person smiling and looking down at her. The piercing blue eyes. _Sara_. The situation she was in suddenly dawned on her once again. She can’t have slept with Sara. She’d never do something so irresponsible. But would it really be that bad? To sleep with someone she liked? Yes, it really was _that_ bad.

‘Hi.’ She smiled, her expression belying her conflicted thoughts. ‘I didn’t do anything too embarrassing last night, right?’

‘Depends how you define embarrassing. If trying to sue my dog for licking your face counts as embarrassing, then yeah, maybe you did something embarrassing.’

‘That definitely counts as embarrassing. Oh god, I really did that?’ Ava asked, embarrassed.

‘In your defence, you put up a pretty good argument.’ Sara chuckled, ducked her head and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, her eyes meeting Ava’s when she looked up. Ava smiled softly and Sara bit her lip, almost imperceptibly. Ava could easily just walk up to her and…

‘Ugh, I feel gross.’ Ava said, nervously scrambling to stop her thoughts from travelling down the path they were going in.

‘Yeah, being hungover sucks.’ Sara said, smiling at Ava once again. ‘Well, I was just about to make breakfast, so how about you get ready, take a shower or whatever, and we’ll eat together?’

‘Sounds good.’ Ava responded, with a smile of her own. Sara pushed off the doorframe that she was leaning on and turned to walk away. She stopped halfway out of the room and turned when she heard Ava call her name. Ava suddenly felt nervous with Sara’s eyes on her and looked down at her fidgeting fingers. ‘Um, sorry, I was just wondering if you had anything for me to wear. I mean, I’d totally be alright wearing my clothes from last night, hell, it’s probably easier for you, it’s just-‘

‘Aves.’ Ava’s eyes snapped to Sara’s, the movement of her fingers stopping. ‘I’ll find something of Laurel’s that’ll fit you and leave it outside the bathroom.’

‘Thanks.’ She sighed.

‘No problem. Shower’s right through there.’ Sara said, gesturing to a door on her right, turning and glancing back at the woman on her bed once more before finally leaving to go to the kitchen.

————————————

After a very cold shower (for reasons Ava wasn’t too sure about and didn’t have the energy to try to reveal), Ava followed the smell of French toast and walked into what she assumed was a kitchen or a living room. Or both. She was still hungover, and it seemed like too much energy to figure out which one it was.

‘Sorry I woke up so late, I must’ve slept through my alarms.’

‘Actually, I turned them off. I’m sorry, it’s just, you looked so peaceful, and I couldn’t really bring myself to let them wake you up.’ The shorter blonde said, causing Ava’s cheeks to colour slightly.

‘Something smells good.’ Ava stated, changing the subject before Sara noticed her blush.

‘Yeah, well, I remember you saying once that you liked French toast and luckily, that’s one of the few things I can cook’ Sara said, looking down at the pan she was cooking in.

‘Thanks’ Ava smiled, her cheeks deepening in colour at the thought of Sara cooking her favourite food. ‘You didn’t have to.’ She said, abandoning the hope that she would be able to hide the colour of her cheeks. To Ava’s relief, Sara either doesn’t notice her blush or chooses to ignore it. Either way, it saved Ava from having to fumble through an explanation for her bashfulness.

‘Obviously I’m gonna make you breakfast, you stayed at my place last night.’ Sara scoffed, as if it would be ridiculous to think otherwise.

Ava just smiled in response and sat down with her food on a chair at the island that Sara was gesturing to with her arm, Sara mimicking Ava’s action with the chair next to hers.

Ava took a few bites of the (admittedly good) food, steeling herself up for the conversation she was desperately trying to avoid but needed to have. She broke the blissful silence by swallowing harshly and turning to Sara. ‘So, uh, last night.’ She said, stealing Sara’s attention off of her own food. ‘How come I stayed here and not at Laurel’s place?’ She asked.

‘I think she wanted some time alone with Tommy, so I offered to take you to mine. I would’ve taken you home to your place, but I didn’t really think you’d have been bothered to take care of yourself properly in the morning.’ Ava’s heart softened at the implication that Sara was willing to take care of her.

‘And, uh, one more thing.’ She took a breath. ‘We didn’t, um, do… anything, right?’ She said, shifting uncomfortably and making vague gestures with her hands at the word ‘anything’.

Sara’s eyes seemed to triple in size, a sight that would be comical if the situation wasn’t so awkward. ‘No! Not at all, no. No.’ The woman said, shaking her head vigorously to emphasise her point. Ava released a breath she didn’t know she was holding, less relieved than she thought she would be at the revelation.

‘Okay, yeah, that’s what I thought. Just checking.’ She laughed awkwardly, fitting for the conversation. Sara shot her a genuine smile before taking their empty plates and putting them in the sink.

‘C’mon, let’s watch a movie. I think I might be warming up to Star Wars.’ She said, holding a hand out to Ava.

‘Everybody does.’ Ava replied, putting her hand in Sara’s and surprising herself once again with the way they fit together so perfectly. Sara pulled her up lightly and started walking, leading Ava into her living room.

’Sit down, I’ll put it on’ She said, lifting her hand to gesture to the couch. Ava sat down as close to the armrest of the couch as she could physically get, not wanting to take up too much space and make Sara feel uncomfortable.

Ava felt comfortable in Sara’s space, maybe too comfortable for the amount of time they’d actually spent in the same room. Sure, they talked pretty much every day, sometimes for the whole day if neither woman had work, but Ava had to keep reminding herself to take things _slow_ , no matter how much she just wanted to just press her lips to Sara’s and hold her in her own arms. She was fine like this for now, anyway. Just watching a movie together. Platonically.

When Sara was finished getting the film up on her TV, she sat at the other end of the couch and lay back, her head on the armrest, and her feet making their way into Ava’s lap.

‘Hey, get those away from me!’ Ava exclaimed, pushing Sara’s feet off of her lap playfully.

‘Shut up and let me be comfy.’ Sara said, smiling softly when she put her feet back and was met with no reluctance from Ava except a glare with no real bite behind it.

As the movie progressed, the two women got closer and closer together, and by the time the end credits were rolling, Ava was soundly asleep on Sara’s chest with an arm wrapped around the smaller woman. Sara was stroking her back, drawing small shapes in the area where Ava’s top had ridden up and her skin was exposed.

Sara watched the sleeping woman’s face closely. She looked peaceful. Sara had seen Ava nervous, excited, drunk and tired, but she’d never been this peaceful. The crease that was frequently found between Ava’s brows had disappeared, and her mouth was slightly agape, and Sara could feel Ava’s warm breath on her neckline.

It was then that it hit Sara that she could do this forever. She could watch movies cuddled up with Ava every day, maybe even for the rest of her life. But it also hit her that if she lost this, if she ever ruined what she had with the perfection that was Ava Sharpe, she’d never forgive herself. They were just friends, no matter how much Sara wished they could be more. She could flirt with Ava, but only playfully. And it was only a joke when Ava flirted back. When the taller woman blushed, it was purely because she was embarrassed. It would only make sense. Sara wasn’t the kind of person who just _fell in love_ and was happy.

Ava's the kind of girl that you take home to your parents, and Sara was the kind you take to an exorcism. That’s just how it was, how it’s always been. Sara had made her peace with that by now.

But times like these (she didn’t get them often) were the times that Sara wished that things were different. The times she wished that she didn’t fuck up anything that she holds dear. Sara’d had more of these times with Ava than she’d had in the last two decades, and she desperately wanted to hold onto them.

But everything she touched died. She’d managed to mess up almost every relationship she’d had so far, and she’d die before she ever broke Ava’s heart.

And that was assuming Ava even wanted to be with her. Sure, Sara’d be an idiot not to notice the way Ava blushed when Sara flirted with her, but she also had the ability to make anyone blush for her, one of the (admittedly few) things Sara was proud of about herself.

As cliche as it sounds, Ava was different to all the other girls. Well, the kind of girls that Sara was usually with, at least. She was adorable. And sweet and amazing, and she never failed to make Sara smile. She loved serial killers and Star Wars and picnics in the park. She was everything that Sara felt like she was missing, and _more._

That’s why she could never tell Ava how she truly felt. Sara would rather be almost painfully in love with her forever without her knowing then lose her.

Ava shifted in her arms slightly, mumbling something incoherent before nuzzling further into Sara. Sara looked down at the woman curled up in her arms with a soft smile at the moment. This would be worth the awkwardness when Ava inevitably woke up.

————————————

‘So, Ava slept in my bed last night.’ Sara said, deciding to just bite the bullet. She was sitting with her friends, the ‘Legends’, as Nate referred to them as, in Zari and Amaya’s (the ‘lovebirds’, according to Nate, much to Zari’s chagrin) house. It was their weekly

Everyone’s heads turned in her direction simultaneously, all with looks of various levels of surprise on them.

‘WHAT?!’ Zari and Nate exclaimed, both leaning in towards Sara. Constantine looked impressed, and nodded with a ‘congratulations, love’, loosening his tie. Wally and Jax smiled, the latter opening his mouth to say something before being cut off by Mick, who just grunted in approval, lifting the (third?) beer bottle from his mouth in acknowledgement.

‘I thought you were at Laurel’s celebration last night?’ Amaya, Sara’s arguably most sensible friend (Ray got a bit too carried away ‘bro’-ing around with Nate sometimes) asked.

‘I was. And we didn’t do anything, for your information.’ She said with pointed looks directed at Zari and Nate. Zari shrugged, and Nate at least had the humility and the sense to look apologetic.

‘Excuse me, you can’t just say something like _that_ and not expect us to want details.’ Zari said.

Sara pretty much immediately regretted telling her friends but continued anyway. ‘What is there to tell? We met at the bar and apparently, she’s been Laurel’s friend for a while, and we hung out for the rest of the night. It seemed like she had a high tolerance, but she got pretty tipsy, and I didn’t want to make Laurel take her home, so I brought her back to mine.’

The Legends all had expressions varying from disappointment to hopefulness, to genuinely just not caring and being more interested in beer and the shitty reality show that Wally and Nate _insisted_ they watch.

‘You’re not disappointed? We know how much you like her.’

‘I don’t like her _that_ much.’ Jax smirked and opened his mouth to reply. ‘Shut your mouth, Jax, or I’ll cut your eyes out and feed them to you’.

‘Damn, Sara, how’d you even know I was gonna say anything? You weren’t even looking at me.’

‘Moving on from Sara’s weird ninja tendencies, what was it like in the morning? Awkward?’ Nate asked.

‘It was nice, actually. Well, a bit awkward at first, but not necessarily in a bad way. I could tell that she was wondering if we had sex the whole morning, but I didn’t want to push her into a conversation about it or anything, so we just talked about it when she brought it up.’

‘And?’

‘And it was fine. Now can we drop it and get back to whatever this is?’ She asked, throwing a hand up to the large TV, where the reality show was still running.

‘Come on guys, leave Sara alone now. Who wants more pizza?’ Amaya asked, standing up and receiving a mouthed ‘thanks’ from Sara, smiling back.

After watching another few episodes and finishing more pizzas than should be humanly possible, everyone but Sara had left. She was draped sideways over one of the armchairs, facing the couch that Amaya and Zari were on, the latter with her head on the former’s lap, staring into each other’s eyes and having a silent conversation.

‘Fine’, Zari said. ’Cap, _we_ think you should tell Ava how you feel.’

Sara adjusted so she could see the couple properly and grimaced. ‘No. Not happening.’

‘Look, I know that you don’t want to lose her. I’ve been there, remember?’ Amaya said, looking down at Zari affectionately. ‘I had that whole mess with Nate-‘

‘Which, objectively, was messier than what you have with Ava’ Zari interrupted, Amaya shooting her a look.

‘But look where we are now. We’re happy and together and you know I’m not saying that to rub it in your face. I’m saying it because you helped us so much to get where we are, and we want to do the same for you. You’re an amazing person, and Ava just amplifies that. I’ve not even met the girl yet, but I can tell that she makes you happy. Don’t you think you owe her that?’

Sara grimaced again. ‘Guys, I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine like this.’

‘Are you really?’ Zari said, deciding to give up on trying to be nice and just being blunt. ‘Ya know what, let me answer that for you. You’re not. I’m gonna tell you what you told me about Amaya, because evidently that worked out pretty well. You need to finally stop being so chickenshit and just tell her. Are you gonna go for it and risk it, or are you just gonna watch her fall in and out of love with other people until you’re old and wrinkled and alone and Ava’s married?’

‘Okay, I see your point. If I tell you I’ll think about it, will you both shut up and let me wallow in peace?’

‘Yes’ ‘Maybe’ Amaya and Zari said at the same time. Zari smiled a smile reserved for Amaya and leaned up to place a kiss on the other woman’s cheek.

‘God, you’re both gross.’ Sara said, receiving a middle finger from Zari in reply. Despite how reluctant she sounded, Sara valued her friends more than anything so advice from them was usually well received, and she took on board everything they said. Accepting that she needed to tell Ava was one thing, but actually telling her was another. This was going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys know the drill, drop kudos and comments and tell me what you thought :)
> 
> (i don't really know where this is going, so tell me what you want to see next :) thank you!)


End file.
